The Hon. Sajith Premadasa - Leader of the Opposition

¶ 01 Hon. Prime Minister, regarding the pledge to increase education expenditure to 6% of GDP, you said we are moving in that direction. That is good. However, I wish to point out that the allocation has moved from 1.8% in 2025 to 2% in 2026 — an increase of only 0.2 percentage points. I believe it must grow faster.

¶ 02 I also draw attention to page 72 of your Policy Statement, which details recruiting 35,000 graduates: 20,000 to the teaching service; 3,000 STEM graduates; 9,000 non-STEM graduates to technical sectors, Inland Revenue, Customs, Foreign Service and tourism; and another 3,000 to tourism and related services. We estimate that 35,000–40,000 graduates are currently unemployed. We recommend giving them one year of apprenticeship-style training with a stipend and then operationalizing the recruitment program.

¶ 03 On unemployment, you presented statistics. I propose a solution both domestically and internationally. There is a major opportunity with South Korea under the 2004 agreement. Our youth qualify for production and service sector jobs by passing EPS-TOPIK, language and skills tests. The problem now is that for several years, quarterly job placements that averaged 1,500–2,000 have fallen since 2023, and currently stand near zero. About 5,000 qualified candidates are stuck. Those who pass have only two years to depart, failing which they lose their opportunity despite large expenses for training. I request diplomatic intervention with the South Korean Government to resolve this urgently so these 5,000 plus candidates can secure placements before their two-year window lapses.

¶ 04 Further, as your own Cabinet memoranda noted 52,000 vacancies, later 72,000, I urge you to recruit the 35,000–40,000 graduates as stated in your Policy Statement and resolve the South Korea placement issue.